Author’s note: This was written with a mix of emotions from my memories.

Rose wondered why she woke up in an empty room. There was nothing left of the usual cheerfulness that her sister brought in the morning. Why did she not wake her up? It was as if she would be late for school now. Rose wondered if the whole house was as empty as her room. She slowly got up and grabbed her bag for school. After that, she wandered around in the house and found a note on the table in the living room. It was placed in a rush as she could tell by the handwriting.

“Rose, we’re with mum to the hospital. Nothing serious. Just something with her knee. The usual stuff.” 

Rose nodded to herself. It was just the normal stuff, only now she would be late for school as her sister didn’t wake her up. Knowing that already she didn’t even try to hurry up as she would be late anyway.

The second class she had that day was an English test. It was the 23rd of February and as her teacher told her so she could write it on her exam paper and she remembered she still didn’t wish Zech a happy birthday yet, while that was so important!

The rest of the day passed by in a glimpse, Rose couldn’t wait to be back at home and hear that the rushed surgery of her mother would be alright. As she got home she grabbed her laptop and sat down in the living room. She was talking to Jay and got a hang of Zech to wish him happy birthday. Somehow, this time she managed to talk to him for a bit longer, and as she was talking to Jay and Zech at the same time, she saw her sister through the glass of the door enter the room. However, when Tai wanted to enter the door, it changed into a portal and she fell through it.

Rose was shocked and wanted to help, no to save her sister. Before she got up to run after her, she shot both Jay and Zech a message she was going to get her sister out of the portal that had just appeared in their living room. Rose lived in Luxembourg, but as she entered the portal she came into the land of the Foretold.

She fell on a sort of hill and started rolling, as if there was no end to it at all. She continued to roll and roll over and over again, not knowing where she was or where she was going to stop. In the end Rose managed to grab onto the branch of a bush that was next to her and she ended in the grass, but finally stopped rolling. The hill she stopped yet was still going down and next to her she saw a trace of something similar like her own. She was soon to realise that this was most likely the trail her sister left after entering the portal. Rose nodded to herself to gain some more courage and started to follow the trail.

It took her a long time to follow the trail but when it was nearly dark the trail of what she assumed was her sister’s was joined with the trail of feet and sticks. Rose made up that someone was able to grab her sister and took her as their prisoner. The prints on the ground looked like feet and not like shoes, so she continued to walk but more aware of her surroundings, as she didn’t want to be discovered and become a prisoner too.

Rose walked the whole evening and even took of her shoes. Her feet felt warm in the high grass and she wasn’t bothered by it at all. She had always loved nature and there was no way she was going to hate it because of this experience. As she was still walking she looked around. Up in the sky there were the stars greeting her and marking the trail she had to walk. But somewhere in the distance was a fire lightening up. She could see it through the dark of the night and knew she made it closer to her sister.

Not thinking clearly anymore Rose looked for a suited tree and stumbled over towards it. Without checking if the place was guarded she fell under the tree. Her mind was too exhausted to go on and her body agreed on sleep. The night was chill, and Rose hated the cold, but she couldn’t say boo or baa and immediately fell asleep with the tree and forest as her only cover.

~~~~~

Jay read the last message Rose sent him and, as he looked to the side of his laptop, he saw a purple blue portal appear. He didn’t live in the same country as Rose but had a close bond with her. They had the luck Luxembourg and The U.K. only had one hour of time difference and yet they stayed up till 6 am from time to time.

He was kind of curious where it would guide him but also had the idea it might be a dangerous place to go follow. In the end, the curiosity won it from the danger and he carefully touched the portal with his finger not knowing a single touch was enough to activate the portal.

Before he knew it, Jay was sucked into the portal and ended up into a green field. He didn’t know where he was or what had happened to him, but he knew for sure that he ended up in the same place Rose went to, it was just a gut feeling.

~~~~~

Zech wondered if what Rose had messaged him was true, but his doubt disappeared when at the left side of his laptop another portal appeared. He also lived in another country than she did, but a little bit closer. Germany had a border with Luxembourg and Zech and Rose had been talking about meeting up as she only lived 300 km away from each other, but it was never meant to happen.

He was a little bit more careful than Jay and he grabbed his bag. First, he thought of what to take with him, but that turned into a rush when he saw that the portal was growing from the side of his eyes. He grabbed the food in his room and three bottles of water he had just bought from the store. Zech was thankful that he had just bought groceries for the coming two days and he simply tossed all of them in his bag.

Then he nearly tripped over his laundry basket while he grabbed one of the folded hoodies from his desk. While doing so, he had one eye at the portal and knew there was not much time left. Zech also grabbed his notebook from the table and managed to wrap his arms around his pencil-case before the portal reached him. Within one touch, it was done and Zech stood in the field next to Jay.

~~~~~

“Woah! Look out!” Jay screamed at Zech as he appeared out of nowhere, on nearly the same place he had just appeared. Zech was just as surprised as Jay and decided it was time for immediate action. He didn’t have time for talking, he had to reach out to Rose as fast as possible, who knew what was happening to her, and how terrified she could be.

It was decided in a blink of a second and before Jay knew what was coming at him Zech got ready to fight him. The boys started to fight immediately but Jay didn’t have that much of experience with fighting as Zech did, after all, he was a gamer. Zech however had been running and lifting weights for years, and you could say he was in alright shape to win a fight like this.

When Jay saw no other option, he yelled out for Rose. “Rose forgive me!” Zech was just wanting to hit Jay with a final blow when he heard those words come out of Jay’s mouth, and he knew that even though he had no clue about who this boy was, he was related to Rose, so reason enough to not KO him.

“You know her?” Zech spoke with an unsteady voice, trying to gasp for breath as he felt his body wasn’t fully in shape after all. He blamed himself for slacking off and not always finishing his workout.

“Yes, I know, she’s the girl who said she was going to save her sister from a portal that appeared in her house. And now I’m here myself.”

“That means, there are four of us in this land, whatever it may be.” Zech mumbled in himself. Jay nodded even though he had not even slightest idea what the boy was talking about, he just refused to be hit again and wanted to get away from the boy as soon as possible.

“Oh sorry, the name is Zech. I used to be Rose’s friend. She messaged me today, as what she always does on my birthday.” Jay heard a kind of sadness in the man’s voice, but he decided to not ask any further about it, after all Rose had never mentioned she also talked to people older than herself.

“I’m Jay. She’s my friend.” Jay’s commend towards Zech sounded kind of forceful and he didn’t really know what to do in this kind of situation, he was unsure of himself, and just couldn’t believe he was really standing in front of someone he had never heard about, or wait a second, he did hear about him.

“You were on that forum as well, weren’t you?” Jay asked Zech. All he got back was a slight nod, but that was enough. Yes, Jay remembered him as a friend of Rose’s, yet Zech and him never had the chance to have a proper chat.

“We have to find her. It’s no use standing her, come.” Zech took the lead and Jay nodded. He was happy he didn’t need to do everything on his own. but also, carefully watched out for Zech, as he was very powerful after all.

Zech took his notebook out of his bag and a pencil, mumbled in himself and scribbled things on paper.

“What are you writing?”

“I’m creating a map of where all we go. After all, we don’t want to be lost do we?” Jay nodded towards Zech and together they walked in silence. It took them nearly a day to reach the border of the sandy place they were in, and the weather immediately switched. Jay started to shiver and Zech felt sorry for him, so he gave him his spare hoodie.

In the evening the two of them found a shelter made out of wooden sticks, yet they weren’t entirely sure it was safe. Together they decided that each of them would only sleep half the night, so they wouldn’t be surprised.

Jay heard his stomach growl as he was checking out the left side of the camp. They would need to find some food if they wanted to survive for another few days. When he got back at the shelter, he saw Zech sitting on the ground. He was eating something from his bag, and when he saw Jay he pointed at the space next to his bag. Exactly on that place were laying down some pieces of fruit and cookies. Zech nodded towards them and Jay immediately ate the food.

The following morning, Jay and Zech continued their search for Rose. Both were short on sleep but safe. Zech prepared something as a meal for them and gave Jay a bottle so he was able to drink as well. Before the two of them left, they made sure there were no traces left behind for someone who would eventually follow them around in the forest or return to the shelter.

During the middle of the day, Zech and Jay looked over a hill and saw a meadow. They had just left the forest behind by taking a turn in the way they were following, yet it seemed they made the wrong decision. With a lot of noise and pain, the two of them hit a sort of wall of glass and no matter where they went there was no way around it. It seemed this wall marked the border of the land they were in.

“Guess there is no other way than to turn around and follow the path through the forest after all.” Zech said as he turned to Jay, who was quick to agree. It wouldn’t hurt to follow the forest, but it meant it would be colder.

They walked a bit back and followed the trail till they got back at the split. Here the two of them turned back onto the path that led deep into the forest and walked most of the day. As the day turned to night Jay pointed out a fire into the sky, it looked closer as they continued to walk.

“Wait, maybe there are guards around the fire, we don’t know what to expect there.” Zech agreed on that and thought a bit about what to do.

“Let’s split up and walk in a circle around the fire, and then come back here. Then we know if it’s safe or not.”

“Agreed.” Jay nodded and turned left, while Zech turned right. The two of them turned around after they had taken ten steps and were just in time to see the other get captured by something that looked like cavemen.

~~~~~

Rose woke up by feeling something poke into the side of her body.

“Tai, leave me alone, just a few more minutes.” She mumbled as she thought she was back home and her sister was waking her up as she did every morning. But instead of stopping the poking only became more and more, and it started to hurt Rose.

She opened her eyes and looked in the eyes of someone she didn’t recognize. Her memory recovered quickly as she adapted to the situation. There was no way to escape so there was nothing else left for her to follow those tribesmen as she called them by that name in her head.

The tribesmen forced her to stay up and guarded her with the four of them. Rose was quite surprised to see their weapons were wooden spears, and they didn’t have any shoes to go with. Their clothing was made of leaves and as she came to the fireplace she saw woman with the same kind of clothing, but now she was able to see the leaves better.

It wasn’t just leaves but they were leaves from palm trees, the leaves were long enough to make any piece of clothing you would ever want, and Rose couldn’t stop looking around as she had never seen such innovative way of creating clothes, she was just so amazing it didn’t even occur to her those people meant her harm, instead of being nice to her.

Rose was pushed into one of the houses and sat down in on the side of it. The housing was made fully out of wooden sticks and had a round figure, yet the roof was fully flat and there wasn’t a place that gave her light at all. The only place in the prison that gave her light came from the small window on top, and as Rose took a look through the window she saw two guards, they were standing outside the door, and by then Rose knew it was over, she couldn’t go back to her home, even if she wanted to, and she lost her sister as well.

It took what Rose thought was forever before someone entered her prison again. It was one of the tribesmen to put food in front of her. Not knowing what it was, but being hungry Rose at it anyway, and when she was finished the tribesman disappeared back into the shadows and through the door.

Then an old man entered the room, and the roof was lifted a bit for a little bit more light. He tried to communicate with her, but she couldn’t understand him, even though she was fluent in her own language, French, German, English and Dutch. But the language the man used was more Chinese for her than anything else.

Rose tried to get a better look at the man and saw he looked really old, but he didn’t look like the tribesmen she had seen at all. He looked more like someone from Asia and she wondered how he ended up here. His hair was growing grey already but she saw it because of his eyes, they weren’t like the people at home, but they were like the Asian people she had seen on tv.

Then she had the idea the man tried a different language, and even another language, but for her they all sounded like Asian languages and she had no clue how to speak them. The man realised this too, so he got a little bit closer and this was just enough for the light behind him to shine on Rose’s red hair.

The man immediately changed his approach as he tried one of the more Western Languages. Rose heard some sentences in Norwegian, Swedish and even Spanish before the man finally jumped to language she knew, French!

“Yes, I speak French.” That was the first thing she said to the man, and his face looked relieved. Luckily, there was a language they were able to communicate in. Rose had the idea the man had already given up when she responded but went on to just check if he still knew all the languages.

The man explained to Rose why she was here. It was said that one of the four people that would arrive through the portals to the land of the Foretold had created. They would take one person with them and then divide to other persons that were needed. The man didn’t really know how the portals worked but he was about to tell about them as Rose interrupted him.

“Do you know where my sister is?”

“I haven’t seen her, Tai hasn’t been here.”

“Liar, I didn’t say her name, I want to see her! Is she alright?” Rose wanted to ask more questions but one of the guards pointed a spear in her direction and she shut up.

“Listen carefully child, you have to make a decision, currently there are four people from the otherworld, but only three are allowed to return. You are going to choose which three, and for that you are allowed to visit a total of four times. It doesn’t matter to who you go, but your time is limited so choice wisely.”

Rose started thinking, she knew for sure that Tai was here, but she had no clue about the others. It was already clear to her she would talk two times to Tai and see if she knew anything, maybe the name of the others. She nodded to the old man as understanding and kept silent for another while.

“What is your decision child?”

“I will go see Tai first.”

~~~~~

 “I know what you have to do sister, and you’re going to have a tough time. Sadly, they didn’t tell me who the other prisoners were, but they gave me two usernames, “Zechpw” and “Shinobu”.” Rose looked shocked as she nearly screamed.

“I take it you know these two people?” Tai asked her while she and Rose were talking in their mother tongue. Rose felt somehow safe doing that, as nobody was able to understand them.

“That are Zech and Jay, I think I’ve told you about them.” Tai nodded, her sister had indeed mentioned them in a lot of her stories, and she knew how painful it would be if her sister had to make a choice to kill one of the three people she loved more. Even though Jay and Zech had nearly a 10-year age difference, and her sister was around the same age as Jay was, Rose had a deep bond with the two of them, and Tai couldn’t let that be destroyed, she knew her sister wouldn’t survive it.

“Listen to me Rose, you’re going to pick me, I’m going to die, and give you the happy life I’ve always tried to give you.”

“But, I don’t want to lose you.” Rose tried to hold her tears back as she spoke.

“Listen sister, my life has been about you. I’ve always taken care of you and please respect this as my last wish. Then there is another thing, I got told that if I figured out the names of those who were also imprisoned I was allowed to visit them before you did, so I will do that and explain what decision you have to make, alright?” Rose nodded towards her sister as she still tried to fight her tears.

“Thank you…” With that the time Rose and Tai had was over and Tai was brought away.

~~~~~

“Their names are Zech and Jay.” Tai directed that one simple sentence to the old man by the entrance of the prison, but it was enough.

“Very well then, who would you like to see first?”

“Take me to Zech.” The tribesmen listened to the command from the old man and took her to a building at the edge of the campsite, opened the door and pushed her inside.

“Zech.”

“Who are you? And, where are we?”

“I’m Rose’s sister, listen well to me. They are forcing her to make a choice, one of the four has to die, and the others are allowed to leave this place. I cannot let Rose take away her friends, and I’m sacrificing myself. I just want to know, are you wroth saving, how do you think about my sister?”

“I met your sister on a forum years ago, and we started talking over Skype and later over text. I kept in touch with her no matter what. Around the time that I met her I was heavily depressed, and she was the one who always brightened up my day. I even told her to never stop talking to me because of that. She was my shining light in the dark.”

Tai nodded, this was indeed what she had heard about Zech, but she also knew that he and Rose had had a major fight and after that he had just stopped talking to her, which went slowly over time with the excuse that work got in the way.

“I don’t know where it went wrong, or who messed up, but the contact went away. It was such little that she only wished me happy birthday on the right date, or wishes me happy birthday with my mum, but I thought I had lost her. Except for today, I finally had the courage to speak to her, and look where it brought us.”

“That may be true Zech, but you have a chance to make this good. Rose will come to you too later this day, and we have to convince and make sure I will be the one sacrificed and not you or Jay, as I know she won’t be able to live with the guild of killing you or Jay.”

“I think Jay loves her, you see, the way he told me he met her, and how they talk each day, but more as in how determined he was to find her. I think I’ve already lost.”

“How do you really feel about my sister?”

“I love her.”

“I don’t want anything to happen to her, I would protect her with my life if she would be able to live, but I know I screwed up, and it will never be as before, but I still love her, and I always will.” Rose nodded as the guards pointed at the door.

“Goodbye Zech. Take care of my sister.”

“I will.” With that Tai left the prison and the guards pointed at the prison, or actually the round house right next to Zech’s.

~~~~~

“You’re Rose’s sister.” Tai wasn’t even inside as those words rolled over Jay’s lips. He was shaking and sat in the middle of the building.

“Indeed. I’m here to explain you something, I’m Tai. Good to see you Jay.”

“You see, they gave Rose a choice, she is allowed to save three of us, but the fourth person has to die. She is the one deciding who goes and who doesn’t go.”

“That is terrible, I wouldn’t be able to live if I had to do that with the people I loved.”

“Indeed, and that’s why I’m sacrificing myself, Jay. I know my sister is strong enough to handle the loss of me, but I know if you or Zech are gone she will never be the same again.” Jay nodded as he hid his face in the hoodie he had from Zech.

“Can I ask you, what for kind of impression made Zech on you? I want to be sure I’m giving my life up for someone worthy.” Tai had conveniently left out she had already spoken to Zech and knew he was worth it, but she wanted to hear it from Jay as well, after all she left her sister in the hand of those two and she had to be sure they would protect and help her.

“He has a sort of dark tornado above him, and I recall Rose once telling me she was his bright spot of the day, as she was always so cheerful. Her username matched that you know, it’s Stralend, which means shining.” Tai nodded, she had seen her sister’s username every now and then and approved of the message it gave.

“But I also think he deeply cares about her, no matter how hurt he is, he wants her to be happy.”

“That’s good then. Rose will be here to talk to you, and you’ll need to convince her you won’t be able to life without her. This is very important.” Jay shuddered and hid even further in his borrowed hoodie.

“Did you hear me Jay?”

“Yes, but the bugs.”

“Come dig a small ring around you, that will keep them away.” Together the two of them made the circle as Tai asked her question again after that.

“I won’t let you down.” With that said the guards grabbed Tai and took her back to her prison.

“See you Jay.” Was all she whispered as she then quietly went with her guards, knowing she did everything to protect her sister.

~~~~~

“Who do you want to see first?” The old man returned to Rose’s prison and looked at her.

“Zech, please.”

“Alright.” The guards entered and brought Zech in, as the old man left the prison.

“Rose.” Zech’s voice was as she had remembered, and his English was just as American as it was influenced from German.

“Zech.”

“I’m sorry…” That was the start of Zech’s apology, he told her what he thought, and together they finally talked out the argument they had had years ago.

“Please don’t give yourself up Rose, we need you. Your sister told me what you have to do, and believe me it’s cruel, but I will always be here for you no matter which decision you make.” Zech gave Rose a hug carefully, not knowing if he was allowed to do it.

“Thank you Zech. Restoring our friendship was more than what I could have ever hoped for. Please forgive me.”

“I already have Rose, it’s alright, it’s in the past now.” Rose nodded as she rubbed her face and threw her tears away.

“You should know one thing, how I really feel about you, I love you.” And with that thing said the guards took Zech away and left Rose alone with her thoughts. She didn’t know Zech loved her, and she was unsure what to do with it, but she didn’t want him to die. Maybe her sister was right, maybe killing Tai was the only option, but she didn’t want to.

~~~~~

“Rose!”

“Jay?” Rose had been so in thought she didn’t even realise the guards had brought in Jay. He was wearing a hoodie she had never seen before but somehow felt familiar. It reminded her that she was cold as well.

“You’re shivering. Here, take this.” Jay took the hoodie over his head and gave it to Rose who gladly accepted the heat.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Jay and Rose first talked about life and finished their conversation. They were having the afternoon before they entered the land of the Foretold before they reached the main topic.

“You aren’t allowed to kill yourself Rose. I won’t be able to live without you, and neither will your sister. I don’t have a life without you, I mean I finished college, I have a job I don’t like, you brighten up my day.” Rose knew it was true, and she only saw now how much Jay and Zech looked alike in personalities, they were so different but at the same time the same as well.

It was then when Rose only fully realised that those two would blame themselves that they didn’t save her if she would sacrifice herself. So, her sister was right, she was the only solution to make sure everyone would be able to live a happy life, without the constant guild. Rose would need to respect her sister’s last wish.

She had enough and burst in tears. Jay pulled her close and gave her a hug, not knowing what else to do. But it was enough for her, and he knew it.

“Ssshh, don’t worry Rose, we’re going to be alright.”

“But I’m going to lose my sister…”

“I know, but you’ll have me, and I’ll never leave you.” With these words Jay was dragged away from Rose and she was left alone again.

~~~~~

“Sister?”

“Sis… You were right, I can’t give either of them up. I don’t know why, but I also cannot bear to lose you, or to even think of it.” The tears appeared over Rose’s face and Tai stepped closer as she embraced her sister in a hug.

“Sssh, it’s going to be alright, no need to cry. Even if I am gone, I will always be with you.”

“How?”

“I will be there.” Tai pointed at Rose’s heart and embraced her. “You will never forget me, and you know how much I love you, and I know how much you love me.”

“I love you so much. And I will never forget you.”

“Then I will never die sister. Never.”

“Alright.”

Rose and Tai spent the remaining time talking to each other, and Tai told Rose that even if their parents wouldn’t be able to afford university. She had saved up every penny she owned so she could give her sister all the support she needed for university.

“You’re going to make it far Rose, I have faith in you, and now, let me save you.” This were the last words Tai spoke before the guards took her away.

“I love you Tai.”

~~~~~

“And, have you made your decision?” The old Asian man came back into the prison and addressed Rose in English. He had probably heard her talking English to either Jay or Zech, but Rose didn’t even question it anymore.

“Tai.” Was all she said, and with that it was over.

She was alone and had to wait what seemed like days before she was finally allowed to leave again. This was the only time that she would see her sister again, and even though she knew she was witnessing her sister’s death, it would give her a bit of peace.

~~~~~

Jay and Zech were standing next to Rose while they were surrounded by eight guards in total. They just had to wait till Tai was dead and then they were allowed to leave and go back to their side of the portal.

Rose had tears in her eyes and Zech embraced her with his arm, then he realised she was wearing his hoodie and looked at Jay who nodded in confirmation. It seemed they already started their job to protect and take care of her.

Tai was brought in by guards and bound on the large stick in the middle of the place. There was wood beneath her feet and she knew she was going to be burned, but the smile on her face, the smile of peace never faded, not even to grimace in pain.

The tribesmen took their bows and lightened their arrows with fire, then they used them to light the fire from a close distance. Rose was watching her sister’s face the whole time till there was nothing left but ash, but that smile was the smile she took with her in her afterlife, and Rose knew her sister was at peace.

~~~~~

Rose was back in her own home and getting ready to move out for university. Somehow she managed to survive the last year without her sister and she found out that she indeed had a lot of savings to pay for university. It was time for a new chapter of her life.

Jay managed to get a job in the city she was going to study and the two of them would share an apartment together. Jay still didn’t know how to cook but Rose was alright with it.

Zech had also found a company that wanted to hire him because he was specialist in Biochemistry and it was well paid, he even had time off to cook for the three of them as on the contrary Zech’s dishes tasted delicious.

The three of them lived together for a long time and Rose was happy with it, when all of them had something to do with their lives, it was as it was meant to be.

Long after they left that city and even that time era, a statue appeared out of nowhere. It reflected two brothers who were protecting their so-called sister from a fire. There was a name for the statue, but it was long gone, but everyone knew the story about how the two brothers protected the girl from grieving over the lost fourth.